The general is summoned to the UN to be briefed for his mission – he arrives a day early and with time to kill and minded to recce he joins a tour – old habits etc – in the foyer a photographic exhibition of life in a Warsaw ghetto, pictures of child workers the ages of his grandchildren – the UN coffee shop and book shop – portraits of previous SGs on pieces of textile – grey and white marble floor – white ceiling – blue walls

…

The slim pale grey high rise of the UN building – the east river – the black shiny column of a Trump building – the gathering of missions: turkish, german, the luxembourg town house beneath its unrecognised flag, through the windows a book-lined study

…

The row of workmen walking in a crocodile down a concrete ramp to clock in

The adjacent lot empty, ready for development, the frayed pavements and sidewalks – the snow damage and the summer heat – America as frontier, the sense that slowly it is disintegrating

The brown brick building housing a charity gathering in stray animals

…

From the foyer the east river and new jersey beyond

…

The guide – tight fitting blue suit – UN lapel – a comma of black hair overhead, slight, bearded, highly and precisely articulate, what wonders the general is the man doing guiding – he has all the agility and religion to be on the inside

The tour: the hall, the exhibits on human rights, weapons of mass destruction, holocaust, the Millenium Goals, the gifts from member governments (Thailand, Belarussia, Malaysia).